To the editor:
As the state opens up, and I look around seeing bigger gatherings, I am tempted to join in. Staying physically apart is difficult even when the science is there to tell me it is important. It’s human nature that I don’t like someone telling me what to do, especially if it’s extra work in a difficult situation.
An order of Sisters has been quietly caring for the elderly for many years. Founded by Sr. Jeanne Jugan in 1839 in France, the Little Sisters of the Poor now serve in over 30 countries of the world.
The Sisters’ website describes their mission “to offer the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they will be welcomed as Christ, cared for as family, and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to himself.”
To the editor:
Thank you God that we still have people here on earth who have a conscience and won’t sign this form (reference to Little Sisters of the Poor article on their refusal to sign the Health and Human Services’ Contraception Mandate, February 4 Catholic Herald).
Why have Catholics not signed a petition to abolish this mandate? Why is this the first I have heard of this? Why is it kept from us to see?
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| Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, talks with Jeff and Alice Heinzen of Menomonie, Wis., as they leave the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican October 13. The couple are auditors at the synod. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) |
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholic couples who ignore Church teaching on contraception “don’t know what they are missing,” said a U.S. couple invited to address the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family.
Alice and Jeff Heinzen, family life leaders in the Diocese of La Crosse, spoke at the synod October 7, urging efforts to find new ways to share its teaching about the beauty of family life.
Although the couple has practiced Natural Family Planning (NFP) for 27 years and taught NFP — Alice is a member of the NFP advisory board for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — they did not speak specifically about family planning in their presentation to the synod.
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Among married men and women who undergo surgical sterilization through a vasectomy or a tubal ligation, it has been estimated that anywhere from 10 to 20 percent will come to regret the choice.
Sometimes there may be an immediate awareness of wrongdoing following the surgery, while in other cases, as Patrick Coffin, radio host and author of Sex au Naturel notes, sterilized couples may “. . . drift for years before acknowledging that something between them is no longer in sync. After the initial pregnancy fear subsides, and the vision of 1001 erotic nights turns out be something of a scam, spouse may (subtly) turn against spouse while doing their best to ignore the silent, disturbing ‘presence’ of the choice they made.”
Their decision to seek out a permanent form of contraception can also affect their marriage in other important ways. As Dr. John Billings has noted, there is “an effect that is even more tragic than the clinical, and it is that in many cases the use of contraceptive methods in marriage has been followed by an act of infidelity of one of the members.
Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, in his December 13, 2012 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, argues that the cost of birth control could be reduced by eliminating the required doctor’s visit to get a prescription — making contraception available “over the counter.”
If it were made available this way, it would no longer be reimbursable by health insurance, and people could simply purchase it on their own.
Jindal posits that this approach would result in “the end of birth control politics.” He relies on several simplistic assumptions and inadequate moral judgments, however, as he tries to advance this argument.
Dear Friends,
By now you’ve surely heard the startling (if not shocking) news of last week — the mass media, celebrities, bloggers, and even pro-abortion groups have reported their decision to aid the Church in our evangelization of the world and in preaching Jesus Christ! Thanks be to God!
Of course, that’s not actually what happened, not even in the slightest. However, I can be left to hope, and here’s why:
To the editor:
We find the “Forming Consciences” article (Catholic Herald, September 27, 2012) to be both ambiguous and confusing. Stating that Catholics are to vote using a well-formed conscience is correct; however, our consciences have not been well-formed for the past 40 years or so. This close to the election it is essential that we speak plainly and clearly about what is at stake and disregard “nice platitudes and political correctness.”
Certain issues trump all other issues. The most significant issues trumping all others have to do with religious freedom, abortion, same-sex marriage, contraception, and other “culture of death” issues.
The Catholic bishops of the United States have called on all Catholics to unite in opposition to various threats to religious freedom in our country.
At a meeting of the bishops’ leaders in Washington, D.C., the bishops issued a statement on March 14 called “United for Religious Freedom.” The bishops said they are concerned not only with protecting the Church’s own institutions, but also with the care of individuals and the common good.
At the end of the liturgical year, the Mass readings tell dramatic stories from the Books of Maccabees of simple folks standing courageously for their faith in the face of torture and death. Their exemplary witness can strengthen us as we defend our conscience rights and religious liberty which are under attack today.
In second century B.C., a conquering king was intent on suppressing Judaism in Palestine. He issued a decree that his whole kingdom should all be one people, each abandoning his particular customs and religious laws and observances. Whoever refused to comply would be killed.
Though large numbers did comply, we’re told that many in Israel “preferred to die rather than be defiled with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die. Terrible affliction was upon Israel” (Maccabees 1:63).
